webtoon

A webtoon is a digital comic made for reading on a phone: one long vertical strip you scroll through, usually in full color, released in episodes. The format started in South Korea and is now read around the world.

What webtoon means

Instead of pages with panels side by side, a webtoon runs top to bottom on an “infinite canvas,” so you read by scrolling down. Episodes come out on a schedule, often weekly, and some add music or small animations. Unlike most manga, which is printed in black and white, webtoons are usually in color.

Examples

• “I read three webtoon episodes on the bus every morning.”
• “That K-drama is based on a webtoon, and honestly the webtoon is better.”
• “Is it a manhwa or a webtoon?” “Kind of both.”

Webtoon vs. manhwa vs. manga

Manhwa is the Korean word for comics in general; webtoons are the digital, vertical-scroll kind. Manga are Japanese comics, traditionally printed in black and white and read right to left.

Where it came from

Webtoons (웹툰, weptun, from web plus cartoon) began in South Korea, where digital comics grew so popular that print comics declined. Wikipedia says as much material now comes out as webtoons as in print, and puts the global market at roughly $5.91 billion. Plenty of hit Korean dramas started life as webtoons.

Related terms

• Manhwa: Korean comics.
• K-drama: Korean TV drama series.
• Isekai: the “transported to another world” genre.
• Otaku: an obsessive fan of anime and manga.

More comics and fandom words are in our anime slang guide.